Desmodium microphyllum

(Thunb.) DC.

FabaceaeLeaves

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves

The young leaves are eaten as a vegetable.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. In Papua New Guinea it occurs between 360 and 2000 m altitude. It occurs on the plains and hills of India except in the drier areas. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Asia, Australia, Cambodia, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pacific, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, PNG, SE Asia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Fiji, Micronesia, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Kiribati, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pakistan, Palau, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Samoa, Yemen

How to Identify

A low creeping legume with hairy stems. It is slightly more upright than Desmodium repandum. The stems can be 1.5 m long. It has 3 leaflets the edges of which are slightly wavy. They are 0.2-2.5 cm long and 1-7 mm wide. The leaf stalk is 1-3 mm long but can be longer. The flowers are on long unbranched terminal groups. These clusters are 1-5 cm long. It has cream, pink and blue flowers. They are 4-5 mm long. The fruit are pods 0.5-1.3 cm long and 2.5-3 mm wide. They have 3 to 4 joints. The segments are rounded.

How to Grow

They are mostly self sown in grassland and old garden sites in the bush.

Medicinal Uses

The roots are used in medicine.

Notes

The roots are used in medicine. There are about 350 Desmodium species. They are mostly in the tropics. Also as Papilionaceae.

Names & Synonyms

Khet-sunsuni, Trangqua la-nho, Xiao ye san dian jin

Codariocalyx microphyllus (Thunb.) H. OhashiDesmodium parvifolium DC.Hedysarum microphyllum Thunberg

References (13)

Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 168
Ann. Sci. Nat. (Paris) 4:100. 1825 Jan (As Desmodium parvifolium)
Flora of Pakistan. www.eFloras.org
French, B.R., 1986, Food Plants of Papua New Guinea, A Compendium. Asia Pacific Science Foundation p 81
Huang Puhua; H. Ohashi, FABACEAE (Draft), Trib. Desmodieae (Bentham) Hutchinson. Flora of China.
Pham-Hoang Ho, 1999, An Illustrated Flora of Vietnam. Nha Xuat Ban Tre. p 927
Powell, J.M., Ethnobotany. In Paijmans, K., 1976, New Guinea Vegetation. Australian National University Press. p 109
Prodr. 2:337. 1825
Singh, H.B., Arora R.K.,1978, Wild edible Plants of India. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. p 25 (As Desmodium parvifolium)
Vartak, V.D. and Kulkarni, D.K., 1987, Monsoon wild leafy vegetables from hilly regions of Pune and neighbouring districts, Maharashtra state. J. Econ. Tax. Bot. Vol. 11 No. 2 pp 331-335 (As Desmodium parvifolium)
Verdcourt, B., 1979, Manual of New Guinea Legumes. Botany Bulletin No 11, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. p 402
Wild edible plants of Himachal Pradesh
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew